Panasonic SDR-H80 digital camcorder

Despite high definition being the current focus of attention, Panasonic still hopes there’s a market for SD camcorders.

The SDR-H80 is a compact device that’s suited to anyone who isn’t yet ready to make the step up to HD.

With a 60GB hard drive built in, it offers 54 hours of recording time in extended play mode. But even at the highest quality setting, 13.5 hours is a good amount. This can be augmented by slotting in an SD card.

The fold-out screen can be twisted in all directions and has a small joystick controller. A straightforward power and function wheel enables you to record and play both stills and video, with the zoom lever on the top and the shutter positioned for your thumb.

A travel mode lets you adjust the time easily when you’re on holiday, and an Intelligent Auto mode does a good job of detecting the right settings to use, including automatic face detection. It even worked well when shooting outside in snow, with faces clearly visible against the white backdrop. When shooting indoors we felt the images were too grainy, so you should ensure there’s adequate lighting.

A remarkable feature of the SDR-H80 is the 70x optical zoom, one of the most impressive we’ve seen for a while. At that range, however, camera wobble becomes an issue, even with the built-in image stabilisation, making a tripod essential.

There’s a still image mode too, but with a resolution of just 640x480 it’s not that useful. Our biggest quibble is with the camera’s battery: it sticks out at the back, right where your thumb should rest when you take it off the shutter. We’d rather the camera was longer and could accommodate the whole battery.

If you’re looking for an SD camcorder, and especially if you want to capture video from a distance, this is well worth looking at. However, we can’t help feeling it’s let down by poor ergonomics and the low resolution of still pictures.